Ben-DutkaIt must be nice to be CEO of the publisher that is responsible for what will likely be the single biggest selling video game in history.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 certainly had the biggest launch ever, as 4.7 million copies were sold in just the first 24 hours, thereby generating over $310 million. The dollar total matches Grand Theft Auto IV in 2008 but in terms of overall sales numbers, there's little doubt that MW2 will soon be on top of the gaming world. And CEO Bobby Kotick is lovin' it. According to GameSpot citing a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Kotick took advantage of this momentous event to exercise almost 2 million stock options he had vested back in 2000 and back then, those options were only worth a little over $1. Well, Activision's stock is now at about $11.47/share, which means that once you subtract the initial $2 million, Kotick comes clean with $20.2 million…that ain't bad. And he still owns over 3.1 million shares, which are worth around $35.5 million. That's a nice little pay day, wouldn't you say? And before you all start freaking out, bear in mind that Kotick took the reigns at Activision way back in 1991, just before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. So yeah…he did his job.
I'm thinkin' I should get into some game stocks. This is just downright absurd .
Talk about vision. Good for him.
I hope the Sheep don't feel too dirty about him wiping his butt with their money.
Deadman's going to be mad at you for calling his friends and family "sheep."
But I'm with you on this one.
-Arvis
That's okay, Deadman is a reasonable fellow and he knows gaming opinions are nothing personal.
wow those 7 million predictions were way off.
i seriously can not trust or believe anyone in this industry these days, there constantly contradicting themselves.
a few days ago here was a article of IW saying kotick is not such a bad guy.
today i read a article saying IW wants to get away from activision not entirely because of him but also because there being forced to do things they dont want to.
developers strike again!
do they listen to what there saying?
im really starting to think before they do interviews there thinking of ways they can contradict what they said in a previous interview.
almost like there doing it on purpose.
No wonder Kotick's an arrogant bastard in public. Hell, I probably would be too.
Yhea, absolutely… that is why I won't buy MW2, but rather second hand. All multi plats from no one are second hand for me; I will only buy new PS3 exclusives to support the exclusive developers!
Q!
"i am home"
So GameStop deserves to be millionaire's over the devs and publishers? What are you saying??
I don't use GameStop, I don't live in the States… Don't jump to conclusions; I will get from people who advertise privately… and here in Singapore there are plenty of people swapping/trading games; as well as selling them cheaply!
Q!
"i am home"
Haha good on him.
And good for him.
Come on Qubex,
You gonna pass on Final Fantasy 13, Resonance of Fate, Dante's Inferno, Assassin's Creed 2, Bayonetta (well you might pass on Bayonetta), but Bioshock 2, Neir (kinda shady on), and Darksiders as well.
I know you heard something you liked.? Right? I mean I want to only support ps3 exclusives too. And I will support the many great exclusives to come (especially and mostly next year). But some/most/all of these games are just so tempting. I am gonna be broke…hehe…no that's…it's not really funny this time round.
Dante's Inferno actually does look very good… I may get it full price 🙂
Q!
"i am home"
I have to admit that this is one successful man, or he may just be lucky.
Im hoping to hear on the news tomorrow that he died in a car crash on the way to the bank. Sorry I just hate people that give gamers sh** we pay enough for games you rich bast**d!
He had help (as usual) and benefits from good timing. From what I read and see about him, he's somewhere between corporate raider and jerk. The two usually go hand-in-hand. I'm far more interested in what he actually did from 1990s til now, not his resume.
Any CEO who takes the company stock price from $1 to $11 has to know his stuff. You can argue with his methods but you cant argue with the results. Millions of people have proved him right. Games are beginning to be bigger than movies.
I'm not sure why some gamers hate some game companies so much though?
Would our gaming experiences be better without EA or Activision or Microsoft of heaven forbid Sony? I think they are all pushing our gaming experiences forward in a positive way.
We wouldnt have Sony in its present form without Microsoft and we probably wouldnt have the likes of MGS4 or Uncharted 2 without the competition from the likes of EA and Activision.
Maybe they stifle innovation but I seem to be surrounded by more and more quality games that are burning bigger and bigger holes in my wallet!
Good times…
Just a bit pissed off as to that reality: the big guys get all the dough, but MW1 and MW2 were created not by him but some great devs. Sad.
Well he made his money, don't be jealous now, all you Kotick haters, I'm not a fan but I know how to make money considering where I come from, so I like to see people hustle and earn something is all.
Except that you don't subtract the initial two million because, being stock options, Kotick probably didn't pay for them per se; more than likely, they were given to him as part of his compensation package, a common practice for CEOs and company big wigs.
I don't mind MW being a big hit but I was hoping sales take up would be really slow, this way it would put him off the idea of overcharging for games in the future.
Wow, hate on Kotick as much as you want, but what a man makes for a living is nobody's damn business.
It's crap like this which degrades journalism into tabloid garbadge.
Reporting on what's going on in the industry, including its professionals, is tabloid garbage?
I thought a "garbadge" was a badge you got for fishing or something?
Heh heh, making fun of people's typos on the internet… I am SO cool. 😀
-Arvis
fu** gamestop.
thats all i can say.
there a complete rip off!
$&^#&%^….Of all the f*cking people to get richer, there's no frigging justice in the world!!!!!
It's a damned shame we gamers can't force him to put a million dollars in the naughty jar each & every time he opens his f*cking arrogent, maggot filled yapper of his!!!!!
That way he could really fill the kitty for the Veterans, instead of using it as a publicity stunt like all the spin-doctoring he's trying to do now.
And then turn over full 100% control of his foundation to an already well-established Veteran's Help & support organization!!!!
Till then, he's nothing more than a sniveling, blow-hard, P.O.S. in my book!
But that's alright Kotick, in the end, "karma's gonna get cha" !!!!!!!